World News

APAGHDAD: The US President, Mr Obama praised Iraqi moves to form an “inclusive” government on Friday, but a two-day-old power-sharing deal was already looking fragile after Sunni lawmakers walked out of Parliament, clouding the possibilities for working with the Shiite Prime Minister, Mr Nouri al-Maliki.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia is on alert for a possible Al Qaeda attack next week during hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage that draws millions of worshippers to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the country’s interior minister
said.

BOSTON: LeT operative David Coleman Headley had made his children do “military drills” in a Chicago park last summer, according to a law enforcement officer, who said this observation had helped bring the Pakistani-American terrorist “on the radar.”

UNITED NATIONS: India could get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council before the end of its two year term as a non-permanent member, Indian diplomats believe, but US officials say it will take more time as the process is “complex and lengthy”.

SAN SALVADOR: At least 16 people were killed and more than 20 injured in a fire at a prison in El Salvador’s Ilobasco city, authorities said.
“There are 16 dead,” the Salvadoran Red Cross spokesperson, Mr Carlos Lopez said, adding that 26 people were injured.

LONDON: At least 51 people have been arrested, authorities said Thursday, after students stormed the headquarters of Britain’s ruling party to protest plans to raise tuition fees.
The students spray-painted anarchy symbols and set off flares before being forced out of the Conservative Party building in London.

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: Backing India’s bid for a permanent membership, the US has started reaching out to other Security Council members on the reform of the apex UN body but said it could not set a target date for expansion of the UNSC.